Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Tuesday called on the Ombudsman to delve into whether Vice President Sara Duterte and officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) committed malversation in their use of confidential funds.
Ridon made the pronouncement during a press conference while the 17th day of Duterte’s impeachment trial – where the vice president’s alleged misuse of confidential funds is being tackled – was on break.
‘We call on the Ombudsman to look into whether there is actual malversation committed by Miss Acosta, Mr. Lachica, Vice President Sara Duterte in using the confidential funds,’ said Ridon.
‘I think it’s clear that these confidential funds were really misused,’ he added.
This came a day after OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta testified before the Senate impeachment court where she admitted that she handed the office’s confidential funds to former head of Duterte’s security Army Col. Raymund Dante Lachica – even if she knew that the latter was not a bonded officer.
Ridon, however, clarified that the ‘original sin’ was committed not by Acosta or Lachica, but by Duterte herself.
‘Because she herself was the one who ordered the transfer of the P125 million from Gina Acosta to Mr. Lachica,’ he said.
Safe houses
Meanwhile, Ridon in the same press conference also pointed out that to this day, the confidential funds used for the supposed renting of safehouses has not yet been explained before the impeachment court.
‘It is still not explained why the money spent on safe houses is so large… P16 million every quarter,’ said Ridon.
According to Ridon, the amount used by the OVP for the safe houses basically reflect prices in exclusive villages Forbes Park and Dasmariñas Village, as well as high-end condominiums in Bonifacio Global City or that in Makati.
‘I’m quite certain that those are not the same as the ones that were given and paid for by our security sector, which has confidential funds,’ he added.
He also noted that based on the documents authenticated by OVP assistant chief-of-staff Lemuel Ortonio on Tuesday’s hearing, it was clear that they were ‘manipulating’ the records pertaining to the OVP’s use of the confidential funds.
‘We can’t let that go. P16 million every quarter [on] different days,’ said Ridon.
‘You’d be a fool to believe the explanation that we can reach that price level because the days we’re talking about are different. So we’ll chase that until the very end,’ he added.